


Familial Bonds (Are Hard to Break)

by blakefancier



Series: Young Lovers [24]
Category: Captain America (2011)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-14
Updated: 2012-08-14
Packaged: 2017-11-12 02:32:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/485711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blakefancier/pseuds/blakefancier
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Howard has an uncomfortable talk with Maria about Steve and Edward Stark finally makes an appearance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Familial Bonds (Are Hard to Break)

**Author's Note:**

> I really loved writing the Howard-Maria scenes. There's something about her that makes me so very happy. She makes me want to write a Steve/Howard/Maria fic or a fic where she and Steve share Howard. You know, like they trade off every other day, except for Sunday. Howard gets Sundays off to relax.

Howard felt like shit and it didn't help that he woke up alone. Hangovers were so much easier to deal with when Steve was there to bring him water and aspirin and rub his temples. 

He got out of bed, pissed, gargled away the horrible taste in his mouth, then stumbled downstairs to the kitchen, where Jarvis handed him a cup of coffee and some Tylenol. He drained the first cup, then half of the second before he realized Steve was sitting at the island, eating eggs, and smiling fondly at him. 

"Hey," he said softly, because his head still fucking hurt, and sat down.

"Good morning." Steve smiled at him and pushed the plate of toast his way. "You look better than I thought you would."

"I feel like crap, but thanks." He picked up a piece of toast and wrinkled his nose. "So when did the party break up?" He didn't remember much after the third—fourth? Probably not fifth. Probably—bottle of champagne. 

"About two this morning. Mr. Stane and Annie took cabs home and Mrs. Stark is sleeping it off in a guest room. " Steve finished his eggs and glass of milk. He looked so very put together, buttoned up and neat.

"God, you're so wholesome." And he hadn't meant to say that; it was a stupid thing to say.

Steve grinned and leaned over to kiss him, eyelashes lowered in mock-shyness. "Why thank you, Mr. Stark. I try to be a good boy."

"Jesus." Howard gripped the back of Steve's neck and kissed him hard.

Steve laughed and kissed back for a moment before pulling away. "I gotta go. I promised my mom that I'd take her to the Expo this morning. Show her the sights. Mr. Jarvis, please remind Tony that he's supposed to meet us for lunch." Steve patted Howard's cheek. "I'll see you tonight."

He smiled. "Have fun with your mom. "

Steve saluted him. "Go back to bed, get a few more hours of sleep." 

He didn't go back to bed. Instead, he finished his second cup of coffee and started in on the third while nibbling on toast. Maria came in about twenty minutes later, her hair a tangled mess, eyes red, wearing a robe that was much too big for her. 

"Good morning," he said.

She grunted at him and took the cup of coffee Jarvis placed in front of her. "Thank you, Jarvis."

"My pleasure, ma'am."

She settled on the stool Steve had vacated earlier and stared into her cup. "I think I'm dying." 

"Do you think maybe you could wait until you get back to your hotel? I don't really want the police crawling around here. I have things to do today." He pushed the plate of toast towards her.

She sneered at him. "You're hilarious."

"Hey, I didn't pour the booze down your throat." He was feeling a bit better now. "Jarvis, I think I'm ready for some scrambled eggs."

"Very good, sir." Jarvis went to the fridge. Ten minutes later, Jarvis presented a plate of perfectly scrambled eggs to Howard, along with a Starkpad.

Howard murmured his thanks and read through the headlines while eating. He only finished half—he really wasn't a breakfast person—but Maria pulled the plate close and finished the rest. It was all very quiet and companionable, and it felt eerily like the first few years of their marriage, before Tony, before everything went to hell. 

"So," she said. "Steve."

He looked up at her, ignoring the suddenly pounding of his heart. "So… Tony?"

"What?" She frowned at him.

"I don't know." He shrugged. "I thought we were naming random people we knew."

Maria glared at him. "Be serious, Howard."

He sighed and set down his Starkpad. "Okay, so, Steve: blond, blue-eyed, nice kid, good friends with Tony."

"He spent a lot of time last night flirting with you." 

Yes and Howard had flirted right back. Everyone else knew about the two of them, except Maria, and it seemed harmless. "He's a nice-looking kid."

"And it's flattering for a man your age, I get it." She smirked.

"You're only a year younger than I am, sweetheart. No matter what you tell reporters."

She stuck out her tongue. "Bite me." 

He couldn’t help it, he laughed. "Okay, so we were flirting. It's no big deal."

"Maybe not to you. But did you ever think it might be for Steve." 

"What do you mean?" he asked, curious.

"Steve has a crush on you, dumbass. He's had a crush on you since… Well, I don't think Steve has ever *not* had a crush on you." 

"Steve and Tony have been friends since they were three, Maria." She raised an eyebrow and he rolled his eyes. "Okay, he has a crush on me. What's your point?"

"My point is that he's young and impressionable and it may have just been a game to you, Howard, but it was more than that for Steve. You, the man he likes, were flirting with him. I just think you need to be careful so you don't unintentionally hurt him, that's all." 

Howard sighed and rubbed his forehead. He wasn’t sure when his life became a sitcom, but he wasn't enjoying it. "Thank you for bringing it to my attention, Maria. I'll curb my flirtatious nature."

"Be serious!" She threw a piece of toast at him. Hard.

"Ow!" He batted it away. "You could have hit me in the eye!" She picked up another piece of toast. "Jeez, fuck, okay, I'll pull back on the flirting." 

"Good." She bit the toast. "Now call me a cab." 

"Right away," he said. He should have listened to Steve and gone back to bed. 

*****

Howard put Maria in a cab and crawled back into bed for another few hours. He had a dreamless sleep and was lazing in bed, just on the edge of consciousness when the door opened. It was probably Jarvis waking him for an important call, but he hoped it was Steve instead. Steve who would crawl into bed with him and snuggle close, maybe wake him with a slow, wet kiss.

What he didn't expect was someone to reach under the blankets, grab his ankle, and pull. He yelped and flailed as he slid off the silk sheets onto the floor. "What the fuck," he said, rolling onto his back and glaring up at the culprit. His mouth dropped open in surprise. "Eddie?"

Eddie laughed and offered Howard a hand up. "Hi, Howie."

Howard grabbed Eddie's hand and pulled himself up. He hugged Eddie, hard. "What are you doing here?" 

"Well, I was hoping to make it to the opening ceremony of your Expo, but I got detained in Panama City." Eddie hugged back. "I'm sorry I missed it."

"You were detained?" Howard sighed. "What were you carrying?"

"Nothing!" Eddie laughed and Howard stepped away.

"Just keep it away from Tony." Howard ran a hand through his hair.

"Where *is* Tony?"

Howard glanced at the clock. "At lunch with a friend. He'll be back this afternoon. Why don’t you go downstairs, have Jarvis make you something to eat? I'll be down after I've showered. We'll catch up." 

*****

"So why didn't you bring Connie and Morgan?" Howard asked, sipping a glass of scotch as he sprawled on the couch. 

Eddie shrugged and slouched further in the chair. "Connie couldn't take time off work and Morgan wanted to hang out with his friends."

"That's too bad. It's been ages since I've seen them. How are you doing?"

Eddie sighed and put his feet up on the coffee table. "I'm doing pretty good. We're opening a new clinic this fall if we can get enough money to buy medical equipment."

Howard smiled. "How much?"

"Don’t worry about it, Howie." Eddie looked at him when he made a sound of protest. "I'm serious, don't worry about it. I've got it handled."

"Okay. But I'd be happy to donate some money if you need me to." He knew Eddie wouldn’t take the money, but he offered anyway. Later, when Eddie flew back home, he'd make an anonymous donation. 

"I know, I know." Eddie narrowed his eyes. "So what about you? Business is good, or so the papers tell me. You've got this Expo thing."

"Yeah, it's great. It's fantastic. I've got the world at my feet." Howard knew that Eddie could tell when he was lying, so he smiled. "I'm really excited about the Expo. It's about innovation and imagination. It's about showing the world all the amazing things science can do. And who knows, maybe I'll find a few more brilliant minds for R&D."

Eddie rolled his eyes. "It's always the business with you, kid."

"What can I say? I’m a workaholic." Howard finished his drink.

"So you're not dating then? There's no one special?"

He hesitated a moment before shaking his head. "No."

Eddie smiled. "You're lying." 

Howard let out a bark of laughter. "No, I'm not."

"You are. You're lying. I know you're lying. Normally, you're all over the tabloid papers and blogs, almost as much as Tony. But over the past year, there's been practically no news of you dating, no pictures of you making out with a hot little twink at some benefit, nothing." Eddie leaned forward. "And now you're trying to lie to me."

"I'm not lying and I'm not dating anyone." Howard's mouth went dry because he'd never been able to lie to Eddie. 

"Alright, fine. Keep your little boyfriend a secret." Eddie's eyes were practically twinkling with mischief. 

Goddammit, Eddie wasn't going to let this go. He was poised to tell Eddie to drop it, when the front door opened and the boys came strolling into the room.

"Uncle Eddie," Tony said happily, running over to give the man a hug. "When did you get in? How long are you staying? Did you bring Connie and Morgan?" 

Eddie laughed. "A couple of hours ago, three weeks, and no." 

Steve walked over to Eddie and waited until Tony moved away. He offered his hand. "It's nice to meet you, sir. I'm Steve, a friend of Tony's." 

"Nice to meet you, Steve." Eddie shook Steve's hand. "Hey, how would you boys like to go to Moroccan for dinner?"

*****

"Your brother's really nice, Howard." Steve nuzzled Howard's shoulder and drew circles on his stomach.

"Yeah, he's great." Howard sighed and stared up at the ceiling. "He asked if I was dating anyone. I told him that I wasn't, but he knows I'm lying."

"Why didn't you tell him?" Steve lifted his head to look at Howard. "You can, you know. I don't mind." 

"Too many people know about us as it is."

"Yeah." Steve clenched his jaw and looked away. "That is a problem."

"You know I didn't mean it like that." He cupped Steve's cheek. "When you're eighteen, we'll tell the whole world. Until then, it's better if we keep things quiet."

"I know. But he's your brother." Steve pulled away. "And you trust him, don't you?"

"Of course I trust him." Howard sat up and scrubbed at his face. "As more people learn about us, the greater the chances of it coming out." 

"I just feel like your dirty little secret." Steve crossed his arms over his chest. "I feel like… I don't know."

"I'm not ashamed of you. You know that I'm not. If I could shout it to the world, I would. But the repercussion of that would be terrible. Not just for me, but for you." He put his hand on Steve's hair. "There's nothing about us that's dirty. Nothing."

Steve nodded, looking unconvinced and unhappy. "Okay."

"I love you," he said and kissed Steve.

"I love you, too." Steve stroked Howard's cheek.

He sighed. "So how did your mom like my Expo?"

Steve took a deep breath and let it out slowly, then he smiled; it didn't quite reach his eyes. "She thought it was great. Just great."

*****

Howard was up and ready before everyone else that next morning. He had an eight o'clock meeting with his base of operations in London that he'd been putting off for several months.

Eddie came stumbling in first, looking rumpled and sleepy. He grunted at Howard and leaned against the kitchen island. "Is there any black tea, Jarvis?"

"Of course, Mr. Stark. I'll put a pot on."

Eddie nodded and rubbed his eyes. "Well, don't you look all grown up. Heading out soon?"

"Mm, just waiting for Tony." Howard checked his email from his phone. "if you're not busy, why don't you swing by the office later? We'll have lunch."

"Sounds good." Eddie yawned. 

Howard was just about to ask if Eddie was thinking about visiting mom, when the boys barreled in mid-argument.

"I'm not wearing it, Tony," Steve said.

"But it's your uniform!" Tony flung his hands in the air. "You have to wear a uniform." 

"Just because you say something, doesn't make it true."

"Oh, I think it does! I think if my name is on the letterhead—"

"It's not your name on the letterhead." Steve broke off to smile at Howard and Eddie. "Good morning, Mr. Stark. Good morning, Howard." 

"I'll fire you if you don't wear it," Tony blurted out. 

"Okay." Steve crossed his arms and gave Tony a steady, unamused look. 

"God! I was kidding. Stop looking at me like that." Tony covered his face.

Eddie laughed. "Are they always like this?"

"Unfortunately," Howard said. "Are you coming with us this morning, Steve?"

"I can't. I…" Steve glanced at Eddie. "I have a physical today."

Physical? Shit, Howard forgot that today was Steve's bimonthly exam at SHIELD. "Oh. Do you need a ride?"

Steve shook his head. "No, Isaiah's picking me up. I'm just waiting for his text." 

"Okay, well… Good luck." Howard slipped his hands in his pockets. "I mean..."

"I know what you mean, sir," Steve said softly.

Tony rolled his eyes and shook his head and Eddie was looking at Howard like he was crazy. And Howard felt utterly ridiculous. 

"Fuck it. Just fuck it!" Howard walked over to Steve, cupped his face, and laid one on him.

Steve stiffened in surprise, then relaxed into Howard's body, wrapping his arms around Howard's waist and kissing back hungrily. When they parted, Steve whispered, "Thank you."

He smiled and stroked along Steve's jaw. "Call me if you need anything, babe."

"I will," Steve said, and they kissed again until Isaiah texted him. "I'll see you this afternoon, Tony. Bye!" 

Eddie watched Steve go, then turned to Howard. "You're shitty at keeping secrets."

Tony laughed. "Oh man, Uncle Eddie. You don't even know the half of it."

"Shut up, Tony. Go get in the car." Howard hesitated. "We'll talk about this later. Okay?"

"Yeah, okay. I'll see you at lunch." 

*****

Howard took Eddie to a quiet little deli just a few blocks from work. They sat in a corner booth, well away from anyone else and ate. He knew it wouldn't take long for Eddie to comment on the morning's display. 

Eddie took a drink of his bottled water, wiped his mouth, and said, "What are you doing, Howie?"

"About what?" Howard took a bite of his sandwich and chewed slowly. 

"About your jailbait boyfriend."

He sighed. "Don't call him that. He has a name, Eddie."

"As far as I'm concerned the kid's name is 'bad news.' Jesus, Howie, why do you do this to yourself?" Eddie looked around. "Look, I know it's flattering to have some hot young stud all over you. Especially at your age."

"Hey!" It's not like Howard was *old*. 

"But kids like him, all they're after is what you can give them: money, power, media attention." 

"Steve isn't like that." Howard put down his sandwich. "He loves me. And I love him."

Eddie shook his head. "Why do you do this to yourself? Every fucking time, you do this to yourself."

"What?" he asked. "What do I do?"

"You fall for people who inevitably hurt you: Maria, Nathaniel, that Hammer asshole."

Howard let out a frustrated sound. "Okay, back off of Maria, Eddie. I'm the one at fault in that relationship, not her."

"Really? Because if I remember correctly, she's the one who decided to get pregnant even after you told her you didn't want kids."

"And now we have Tony," he said. "And I wouldn't want it any other way. So let it go." He let out a huff. "Look, I know my track record is shitty, but Steve's different. It'll be a year in September. I mean, when was the last time one of my relationships have lasted a year?" 

"I'm just worried about you, Howie. Okay, maybe this kid isn't after your money and power, but that doesn't mean this is a good relationship. When the media gets ahold of this, and they will, the only person who's gonna get hurt is you. And I don't want to see that happen." Eddie reached over and touched Howard's arm. "You're my brother and I care about you."

"I appreciate that, more than you know, but I'm a big boy, Eddie. I know what I'm doing."

"Okay. If you say so." 

Howard felt a flicker of annoyance, which he quickly squashed. "I got to admit, this conversation was a nice change from the ones I usually have when people find out about me and Steve. Normally, people are sure that I'm going to hurt him."

Eddie rolled his eyes. "That's because those people don't know you like I do. You wouldn't hurt a fly."

He laughed. "Eddie, I make guns and weapons of mass destruction for a living." 

"Only because that's what Grandpa and Dad did. You're too good of a businessman to drop them altogether even though you've begun to diversify. Besides, you don't use those weapons yourself."

Howard's chest ached with sadness; Eddie thought so highly of him. But if Eddie knew the truth, that Howard had hurt people, killed people, he might feel differently. "Let's talk about something else. Tell me how Morgan's doing."


End file.
